Page 106 of All I Want for Christmas

‘I’m sorry, they’re calling a meeting. I have to be there.’

He was quiet for a moment, then he shrugged. ‘Well, sorry, no. You can’t go.’

She stared at him, not sure she’d heard correctly. ‘What?’

‘I said you can’t go. They’ll have to wait. We’ve got plans...Look at us!’ He pointed to their all-too-evident predicament on the water.

‘I know, Aksel, I told him that – but I still have to go.’

‘And I’m saying no.’ He stared at her with a level expression.

She gave a disbelieving laugh, really not sure if he was being serious or not. It wasn’t like she wanted to leave, but he couldn’t honestly think he had the right to detain her here against her will either? ‘Are you...are you messing with me?’

‘Do I look like I’m messing?’ His stare had grown cold, those eyes she had thought soulful now looking back at her blankly.

There was a long pause.

‘I’m sorry,’ she said finally. ‘I’m sorry to leave to you here like this but I really don’t have a choice. I’m needed there.’

‘Fucking unbelievable,’ he muttered, shaking his head.

She was taken aback by the level of his resentment. ‘...What?’

‘There’s so muchdramawith you, Darcy. Emergency meetings that can’t happen without you! Depressed housemates who simply have to talk to you alone! Hostile dress couriers who want to punch my face in.’

She stared at him. Where was this coming from? ‘You turned up at my door, uninvited! And as I recall,youwere the one creating drama earlier in the week.’

A flash of anger tightened across his face. ‘Oh, there it is! I knew it would come out sooner or later! You’ve just been waiting for a chance to throw that back in my face!’

‘That’s not true,’ she gasped, seeing the scale of his rage. ‘You’re the one—’

‘Just go, then! Fuck off!’ he blurted suddenly, reaching over and roughly shoving her kayak away from his – but he caughther at an awkward angle and she wobbled wildly, having to grab the sides to stop from falling in. She cried out in terror, certain she was about to plunge into the black water.

‘Hey! Hey!’ She looked up to find a marshal pointing at them both. ‘Stop that! You know the terms of conduct!’

‘What the fuck are you doing, man?’ another guy in the kayak beside her shouted, looking straight at Aksel. ‘You almost knocked her in!’

Darcy tried to catch her breath, deeply shaken by what had just occurred. All around them, people were staring, frowning, watching them. There were children here. Families...

She felt her cheeks burn, shock and fright swirling and making her shake. Everything had escalated so quickly. She couldn’t believe he had forcibly tried to push her into the water!

She glanced across at him and he was glowering at her with an expression that chilled her blood. In a flash, she understood; she needed to get away from him. ‘...C-could I get out, please?’ she called up, desperately.

The marshal stared at her, glancing at Aksel before looking at her again. Did she look – sound – as frightened as she felt? He nodded, beckoning for her to paddle in towards the steps.

She didn’t look back again at Aksel as she paddled past him and he made no move to stop her, nor to apologize. She just wanted to get away from him and back onto terra firma as quickly as possible. She was deeply shaken by his flash of temper. There’d been no inkling he could turn like that, and she didn’t want to think what he might have been capable of if they’d been alone.

Someone shouted around the harbour and there was a shuffling of paper as she made her way towards the docking platform. All around her, everyone began to sing ‘SilentNight’, their voices echoing over the water so that it sounded cathedral-like.

The marshal reached out as she approached, grasping the prow and guiding her alongside the jetty. ‘Everything okay?’ he asked, leaning down to secure the boat with one hand, grasping her wrist with the other and helping pull her ashore.

‘...It is now,’ she said shakily.

‘What happened?’

‘I – I just said something he didn’t like.’ She shouldn’t have said it, she thought to herself. She should have known it would be a touchy subject. No man wanted to be reminded of his failure to perform.

‘Do you need medical attention? First aid?’

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